National Republican., 1887-08-25
20 Operation.

co operation.
II the workingmen OF this country will
study tho systems Of cooperation, both
that which includes capital IN the partner
ship and that which consists OF labor al ne
and which hires capital, they will find in
them the only safe remedy for the ills OF
which they complain, and the only method
by Vhch the production can be properly di'
yided between the labor aud capital required
TO ocreate 1t.
False theories, such as those advanced hy
Henry George and other socialists, only
lead to discomfort with any kind of labor
TO the idea that men should not be com
PEELED to labor because some other men do
not. Yet labor Is the primal law OF nature
and the foundation OF all civilization. Men
can live 10 a savage state with but little
labor but those who have and want the az
vantages of civilization want houses TO
live IN, clothes to wear, churches and
school houses, books and newspapers, rail-
ways and steamboats,, with the other al
vattoges accrulng from civilization, mus
labor, and IN cooperation will lind the bes
results for their labor.
In fact society aud civilization are the re-
suits Of cooperation. Men were hrst le !
to associate together-tha: is, to CO. rper
ate-for the purposes OF self protection,
fret In small numbers and then in greater,
and thus nations grew, aud knowledge aud
civilization came. What one could accom-
plish was taught to another, and to sue.
ce.ding generations, until by the principle
Of evolution the arts aud sciences, viii h
are our glory aud honor-the ciyiiiz l'i,n
md the governments which care for aud
protect us grew out Of CO operation.
Many OF us have seen co operation of Ii
Dor tried with success. all In fact who hav
been where new woodland country was be
ing settled up and opened into farms. The
single settler could easily fell the trees and
cut them into the rilht lengths to construc;
a house, but no matter how COOL his team,
he could not haul them ever SO short a dis
tance to the place where the house was to
stand. 1t required at least two men to Dc
that, and neighbor was called in to help
When the logs were collected two mer
could not erect the structure, so other
neighbors were called upon, and hes strength
and skill Of sir or eight men did WhE il wL
Wcrly impossible for one man 10 do.
There is no better ossible illustration o'
the benefits of co operation than "thc house
raising or "the log rolling" on q newly
opened woodland farm. Neither one Of
soy, the eight men present could by any
possibility have done the work himself, NJ
matter how long time he should expenl
on it, while 1t was an easy matter for tnt
eight to perform 1t In very short time.
The difficulties in the way Of the co-opera
tion OF any considerable number of men %
women in the conduct of any work hav,
been that all mere partnerships are termi
mated and ipso .fact0 dissolved ty the de ,tl
of any one Of the partners, and this mad
necessary the creation by law OF that arti
fetal person, "the corporation" whlcl
never dies, and the business OF which goe
on smoothly, as the death Of an indlyldua
member does not affect 1t.
1t has become extremely popular OF lat
| years to denounce corporations; In fact,
has been SO for some time An ec2entri,
but great American said, corporations ar,
individuals without soul to be damned o
q body to kick" aud 30 there was n
method Of Furnishing them. But in this las
was an exaggeration. for being the creature
Of the government they are not greater thai
their creator, and can always be punished
in legal ways.
| Those who denounce corporations do no
| stop to reflect how these soulless and bo Il
lees entities have added to the coufor.
convenience, and wealth of the wprl,.
| Without them We should not have ole mil,
Of railroad line or telegraph wire where W
have ten, and every one knows what de
| privation that would he, how every man
woman, and child in the country would b
poorer and III ore uuco nfortable for IL.
Corporations have been SUPPOSED to b
only possible or useful for the TRANSACTION
OF a great business or the handling OF larg
sums OF money. But this Is great mis-
take. Corporations are the cheapest pos
siblc media Cor the transaction Of any elias
OF business, great or small, and their immu
nifty from the troubles Of dissolution an,
court supervision through the death OF
member renders them the best. OF lat
years many. Of the states have made the for
I nation Of corporations exceedingly eas
and the cost but trhe.
Corporations are simply co-operativ
societies, and the workingmen OF the couutr
even without money can form corporations
whose only capital will be the labor Of th
members. Senator Stanford, who ha
studied this system OF co operation, propose
through national legislation to give tn
benefits Of corporations with nations
privileges to all who desire to try coopera
tion as the means OF securing TO labor th
full need OF justice. His speech in tn
Senate and interview, with the article
heretofore published in the NATIONAL RI
PUBLICAN, show fully and clearly how &C
operation benefits labor.
Men OF sense do not proclaim this ide
as a 'panacea for all the evils flesh is he
to-" They only say 1t is the best metho
offered to improve the condition OF til
workingman and adjust the relations q
capital and labor. AS such We urge I'll
labor organizations of the country to Coz
sider It.
The Temporal Power of the Pope.